Douglas tight end Kevin Emm loses the ball as McQueen defensive back Kyle Flores tackles him during their non-league game Saturday at Bishop Manogue High School / Julie Sullivan/Reno Gazette-Journal

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Ken Dalton insists he didn't come up with any particularly stunning words of wisdom at the end of regulation.

"We just talked about the fifth quarter, like we always do," the McQueen Lancers coach said.

Mike Rippee also wasn't going to take any credit for inspiring his Douglas Tigers at halftime.

"No, I'm not really into giving motivational speeches," Rippee said. "The kids just stepped up. It's like we always say, it's up to the kids to step up and play the game they are coached to play."

The kids definitely stepped up on both sidelines Saturday afternoon at Bishop Manogue High School.

Douglas picked itself up off the artificial turf, rallying from a 28-6 second-quarter deficit to tie the game at 28 at the end of regulation. And McQueen rallied after a disastrous second half to pull out a wild 34-31 victory in overtime.

"For us, we expect every game to fight to the end, 48 minutes," Dalton said. "So this was nothing new. It's just that this one went into a fifth quarter."

It's amazing that either team had anything left to offer after the first 48 minutes.

"This team never gives up," said McQueen quarterback Brian Barnett, who threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns. "That's what we showed today."

Douglas (1-2) took its first lead of the afternoon on a 20-yard field goal by Reese Kizer in overtime. Rippee said he didn't give much consideration to going for the touchdown from the 3-yard line.

"Not really," he said. "It's important to get points on the board in overtime."

It took McQueen (2-0) just one play in overtime to secure the victory as Styker Ngongoseke exploded up the middle from 10 yards out for the game-winning touchdown.

Ngongoseke, who also scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter to give McQueen a 13-0 lead, collided with Barnett briefly on the handoff.

"We did bang into each other a little," Barnett said, smiling. "That's how you do it, I guess. It worked."

Ngongoseke's score put the finishing touches on one of the weirdest and most unpredictable games in the Northern 4A in recent memory. McQueen dominated the first half, jumping out to a 28-6 lead as Barnett and Josh LaGrone connected on two long (86 and 57 yards) touchdown passes. Barnett also scrambled into the end zone from 11 yards out for another score.

"We just didn't execute in the first half," Rippee said. "You have to play two halves of football to beat a team like McQueen. It's that simple. And we didn't do that today."

Douglas, though, found itself down just 28-14 at halftime thanks to a 25-yard interception return for a score by linebacker Brent Koontz on a pass that was batted into the air at the line of scrimmage. Douglas also scored on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback David Laird just 33 seconds before halftime.

The momentum from that last touchdown drive (75 yards, 12 plays) carried over into the second half for the Tigers.

"We probably got a little too overconfident after getting that big lead," Barnett said. "You can't do that against a great team like Douglas."

Douglas tied the game at 28 before the end of the third quarter. Defensive lineman Sean Molina returned a Barnett fumble 21 yards for a quick score and Reese Kizer broke through three tackles for a 40-yard touchdown run, stunning the Lancers.

"Douglas did a great job in the second half," Dalton said. "But we also made too many mistakes and had too many costly penalties that hurt us."

Both teams had chances to break the tie in the fourth quarter. Douglas went for a touchdown on fourth-and-2 from the McQueen 3-yard line on the second play of the fourth quarter but LaGrone broke up a Laird pass intended for Koontz in the end zone.

Douglas also found itself within striking distance a few minutes later after recovering another McQueen fumble. This time the Tigers faced a third-and-6 from the McQueen 20 only to watch Alex Shutz break up a pass intended for Kyle Heidt in the end zone. Douglas then botched a 37-yard field goal attempt on fourth down.

McQueen, though, nearly won the game in the final seconds of regulation. The Lancers had a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line but a personal foul on Barnett and an interception of a Barnett pass by Niko Saladis in the end zone help force overtime.

"We were running our hurry-up offense and he (a Douglas defender) was laying on top of me," said Barnett, explaining the penalty. "I shoved him a little just to get him off of me and they called a penalty on me."

The 15-yard penalty pushed the Lancers out of field goal range, especially since McQueen kicker Alex LaVoy had already missed three extra points earlier in the game.

When asked if the Lancers would have gone for a game-winning field goal from about 26 yards out if the penalty on Barnett had not been called, Dalton answered, "No comment."

McQueen has now beaten Douglas 14 consecutive times since 1988.

"Every year is a new year," Rippee said. "That's how we look at it. This one went right down to the end and it just didn't work out for us. But this game is already out of my head. We have another tough one next week against Carson that we have to worry about now."

Next week's Douglas-Carson game will be played on Saturday (noon), also at Bishop Manogue. Douglas has had to play all of its games on the road this month because they are installing an artificial turf on their home field in Minden.

"This is our homefield now," Rippee said. "Hopefully, next week we can also make it our homefield in the first half, too."